Trees rushed past at breakneck speed, a few projectiles whipping past me as I swerved. I looked back and I saw the Teeth Shooters open their mouths from behind me. I quickly turned and ducked as their poisoned teeth came flying through the air. Each saliva infected projectile was almost three inches long and a half inch in diameter at the base. Dripping with the yellow, tainted saliva that they used to paralyze their victims.

Now you might be wondering how I got into this situation with creatures that rarely come out of their dens. I mean, usually they huddle together in caves, their ugly faces stretched out to accommodate for their double rows of sharp, dislodging teeth that they can shoot at speeds faster than a longbow's arrow.

We were trying to get the jump on a wandering Swallower, a creature capable of eating anything they bumped into. Whether it was a tree, wall, car, animal, another weaker Swallower, or trying to swallow a lake. They were creatures that were usually killed by other infected, people, or other Animals stronger than them because they just don't stop eating.

But the reason that these things were following me, other than me being potential food, was the fact that I stole one of their precious stones. No one knew why, but Shooters treated shiny stones like they were totems. Building camps made entirely of them, using their saliva to build pillars and marking their caves with individual designs under their signature teeth markings.

I had stumbled across their den after the swallowed started eating their pillars, and was quickly eliminated by the very angry trio. And as I was about to leave there was a rock that stuck out to me, it was a boring on the outside, grayish black, but on the inside. There was a hollowed out center full of glowing blue crystals. I would've missed it if it hadn't been cracked open a sliver. Catching my eye as it had probably caught theirs during their nightly hunt or something.

You see things that were that pretty would catch some high status people in this world, whether it was the city dwellers who built giant brick walls to keep out The Changed. That's what the world called them nowadays, people that got infected changed drastically into the creatures roaming today, and they also to keep out Rouges like me.

They were places that you wanted to be in if you were in danger: their guards were military, or used to be before the Escape, their houses had heating, electricity, and a small defense measure themselves it seemed. Sadly no Rouge has ever gotten within three hundred feet of a city wall without being either hired with a specific seal and uniform that they can spot with scopes, or they're peppered with bullet-holes by their high-powered carbine rifles. Then again there are the ones that are already citizens of that city that is, they don't usually leave though.

I needed to get away from these Shooters though, and I knew just the way. I stopped behind a tree for a second, their teeth started tearing it apart from the opposite side and I pulled out a decoy rock from inside a pocket of my pack, one that I had polished and dipped in animal blood.

I quickly threw the red-stained stone over towards the angry trio. They stopped shooting and tracked the shiny object long enough for me to act. I took the chance to climb the tree and slip into the nearest, undamaged tree. I traveled a few more away before freezing and steadying my breathing. Crouched on a sturdy branch, hoping that these ones weren't smart enough to look up as they searched.

I stayed just close enough to the Shooters out of curiosity, but far enough and high sought that they shouldn't smell of see me. By the growls, snarls, and hissing that I heard they, like every other one I had done this to, were fighting over which one kept the stone. It was usually over in a couple minutes, with the strongest one ending up keeping the stone, and the others pouting in annoyance before all of them realized that they were chasing something. I heard a scream of triumph, or at least I guessed it was, and two others of anguish and jealousy. Then snarling, and the pattering of feet as they appeared running through the clearing looking everywhere, but up.

I smiled in silent victory and fingered the stone in my pocket. Then I climbed higher up the tree before laying against a sturdy trunk and uncoiling rope from the side of my travel pack. Then I proceeded to tying myself to the center trunk before looking up towards the dimming sky and closing my eyes for the night.

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It was already mid-morning when I woke up, I quickly untied the rope from around my waist, recoiled it, put it back in its place on the side of my pack. Then I carefully, quietly made my way down the tree. Once I was at the bottom part I brushed aside the lower branches and looked around: ahead, behind, to the sides, and around the tree, twice just to be sure. Once I saw that I was in the clear, I jumped down from the tree and began my walk back to my shelter in the ground, a small bunker that I found a little while ago, and with a lock and chain inside of it too!

You probably don't understand why I would be excited about a lock, but you don't understand what has happened in this world. Everything metal was melted down and remolded mainly into weapons, or it was locked away for the rich and powerful. I hoped that I didn't run into anyone of that status. They, when they could, caught Rouges like me, and the men got off easy, but the women...I don't want to talk about the things I've heard and seen when going past another female Rouge that was caught by a city patrol. The very thought of what I saw made me shudder, the men crowding around a single women with barely any clothes on, and them—

I shook my head and quickly got the image out of my head as I saw that I was close to my shelter. I quickly checked the perimeter before going to where I set up the system to cover and uncover the entrance. I went to the tree with constant brown leaves on it and climbed onto the first branch. Yeah I know, it's out of the way, why would you put it in a tree, but would you want to get ambushed by that lucky bunch of Long Tongs or Ripped apart by Rippers. I don't think so, and that's why I put the lever in a tree, painted to match the bark, and when I pulled on it the system activated.

Then I waited three minutes, and when nothing came running over, nor blasting out of my shelter I jumped down from the tree. I grabbed the lock hidden beside my shelter in a pit in the ground. sure it may have been bad for the lock but I didn't plan on staying at this place for much longer. I've already been here long enough for something bad to happen soon, and my gut was telling me that that something was coming soon.

I started down the ladder, making sure to loop the insides of the handles with the heavy chains and put the lock through both ends. Then I pulled the second lever on my way down the ladder and once I heard the rustle above, signaling that my shelter was once again hidden. I climbed the rest of the way down to medium length ladder and stepped through the giant circular door that my parents had called a blast door from then they were teaching me about different kinds of shelters.

The door closed with a loud clang and I turned the wheel, sliding the metal bars within into place. Putting the thick steel poles into their respective places. I had brought back a few rusted locks which went in a box along with the others in the corner of the room, and at the foot of my bed.

I went over to the hidden chest in the wall wall nearest to the kitchen and punched in the code to get into the box. Earlier when I had found this place I had also found a paper with three sets of double digit numbers on it and I figured that it was important, and after hours of searching. I finally found the hidden panel in the side of the wall. It took a while, but eventaully I got it.

I found out that I had to twist the dial over the second number and go back to it while staying in the same direction I had originally changed it from turning it by every number. But that wasn't working so I figured out that it goes hit first number, Pass the second number going the opposite direction, come back to it, and then go the opposite direction after that to his the last number. I figured that it would be the perfect place for the important things. After all it was a hidden metal box in the wall, and with a built in lock too.

I shifted through the different shelves of things that I had stuffed with things that are considered valued in my world: full bullet containers, things that glow and shine in the light, the container that I put my newly acquired rock in with others like it, and paper. Usually paper was used for fire by other Rouges, but I liked to doodle on them, I drew the creatures that I saw with them, I drew landscapes that I knew by memory now, I drew weapons that I saw in books, imagined having, or wanted to use.

On top of those were books, as mother and father called them before they died, they had just barely taught me to read and draw before they were killed right in-front of me. There were cooking and baking books, no not books that you use in a fire for warmth, though they could and usually were used for that reason. I figured that the ingredients and instructions were to make certain things, but some of the ingredients I didn't understand. Others I knew about through my house raids and food scavenging but couldn't use.

Then there were the only two weapons that I had, a sleek black pistol that I had been given by my father just before he was impaled by Shooters. It was already filled with the bullets that it needed and I had two separate clips beside it, also full, and more boxes full of ammo behind it. Then there was my small hunting knife, about five inches long and sharpened enough to be able to cut cleanly through some of the cookbook paper.I looked over at the ruined cookbook that was victim of my sharpening. It lay on the bed that I slept in,

I closed the door to the box, turned the dial slightly, and closed the second door to get to the dial. Once that clicked into place, I turned from the ladder and went through the door behind me. I looked at the watch on my wrist, a gift from my mother after she had taken it from an open grave, fixed it, and wrapped it in plastic. It was the most meaningful gift that I had ever gotten, even higher than the weapons from my father.

I looked at my watch again to make sure that I had enough time to make something quick to eat, and I did, and both hands were just past the nine. I quickly made a small bowl of eggs, the stove surprisingly still worked, and a few electrical things still worked as well. No lights though, and I didn't mind that as long as I could breathe and make things without needing to go outside.

I quickly scarfed them down before putting the bowl aside. I quickly washed my dark hair, and skin with some cold water. Warm water was hard to come by as the water barely heated up no thanks to that small fire at the bottom of the giant cylinder going out every so often. I could use warm water maybe once a month, and I made use of the water best I could.

Sure the first few days I felt sick, and revolted using dirty cold water for everything, but eventually I got used to it. I got sick quite a few times and over time that started happening less and less. I think that my body had started getting used to the way I had to do things, thankfully.

Then I went to my bed it was just a bench hurting out of the wall with a few giant blankets across it. Though it was still hard to sleep on, and I often had pain due to sleeping on such a hard surface but it was all that I had. I sat on it looking at the safe torn between leaving everything there or getting back into it and grabbing my gun. Eventually I decided against it and lay down.

As i waited for darkness to overtake me I heard the first sounds of war above. The Changed were coming out to destroy and kill everything in sight or touch, whether it was the escaped experiments: I've seen Wolf and Felid people, Shooters, Rippers, Gliders, a few regular Runners, and I knew of others I've never seen before.There was always something dangerous close by that no one wanted to challenge, and I certainly didn't want to be caught outside by one of them either. I listened to the sounds of screaming and pain-filled screeches before darkness finally overtook me and I fell into a deep, and peaceful sleep.

I took down this story and am working on rewriting it better, it's still not going to be more than ten chapters total but it'll hopefully be a better sequence